Moments In Between ( Book 2)

Chapter 5: Not the Potatoes

Today is my first day of work. I decided to get a part-time job. Mostly because the school is not putting enough distance between my mom and me. Yeah, we are still fighting. Jordan is easy to avoid, but not her. She is always on my case, and it is driving me crazy.

I know she wants to help, but I do not need it. I still did not apologise to Fartface, and he couldn't have cared less. Mom thinks I have defected to the bad side again. I got into a small fight with some kid last week. It was not a big deal. Just some dumb misunderstanding. He thought I was messing with his little brother. Had I been a different person, he would have gotten more than a busted lip.

I am no bully, and I will never pick on little kids. Mom seems to believe it. When she realizes that she is going about this whole situation wrong I will consider talking to her. It seems and feels harsh, but at the moment, this way is my only option. I love my mom, but she has to realise that I am growing up. I can make good decisions too. She has to see that I do not go around doing stupid things.

I manage to make it to the garage five minutes early. The owner Philip arrives just after me. He hops out of his pickup truck. "Been here long?"

Will he be impressed if I say I was here over an hour ago? "Just got here."

Philip opens up the side door and heads inside. I follow him in. He switches on the lights and throws some keys at me. "Open up."

I look at the bunch of keys in my hand. There are ten keys on this. How am I supposed to figure out which is which? I look at the keys, then at the doors. The locks and keys were colour-coded. Smart guy.

After opening up, the other guys arrived. Mitch, Brian, and Lewis, whom everyone calls stumpy, were the head mechanics. Art and Colin were the buff and interior cleaning guys. I am a junior mechanic. I love taking cars apart and fixing up broken ones. Builds character. Stumpy is my guide for the week, and apparently, he knows everyone in town. He even knows stories about me that my mother does not know. Like that time I was in underground street racing with Johnathon. Those were the glory days. I did not need much training, having learned all the basics and everything from Jordan while growing up. It pleased Stumpy a lot; he was not a big fan of teaching. He had no problem talking, though.

******

The day ends rather quickly. Deeming my first day a success. I even fixed a car. With supervision from Stumpy, of course. He is a really fun guy. A creepy know it all as well but still pretty fun. I notice my old middle school up ahead. I never really notice that crappy place, but two kids were sitting on the steps. No one is ever here this late. What kind of loser parents forget to pick up their kids from school? I look at them again. For a split second, I swear they look like my potatoes, Jason and Jayda.

That is impossible. It is after six. Mom has already picked them up since three-thirty. Poor kids. I stop driving. They are hugging each other. Scared and alone. Even if I do not know these kids, I cannot just keep going. What kind of monster will that make me? What if I leave them there and they end up getting hurt or something? They have captured my attention, and it would be inhumane of me to ignore them now. See, Mom, I can do good things. I get out and head up the steps.

 "Hey there," I call, not wanting to startle them. Both of them look up at me—a little girl and a boy, but not just any little girl or boy.

Holy shit. Not my potatoes.

"Jared!"

They get up and run towards me. Their faces were covered in tears. I hug them in total shock, where the heck is my mother?

Jayda looks up at me. "Did something happen to mommy?"

"I don't know." I sigh. "Come on, let's go home."

If something happened to Mom, why didn't Jordan pick them up? Why the heck didn't someone call me? I dial Jordan's number. He picks up on the third ring.

"Hey, Jared..."

"Did something happen to mom?"

"No, I spoke to her a while ago, she's fine."

"Where is she?"

"At home with the kids."

"About that, I just found Jason and Jayda sitting on their school steps."

"What?"

"What's going on with mom?"

"I don't get it... She said they were in their rooms... Are they okay?"

"Scared and hungry."

"I'm gonna come home now, okay."

"Aite."

***

We step into the house. Mom is in the living room. Reading. She looks at us."What are you two doing outside with your school bags on?"

"Mom, I just picked them up from school."

She pauses and goes over my statement in her mind. "No... I picked you two up...But ... I... Oh my gosh..." She runs towards them. "I'm so sorry, my babies ... I don't know how I forgot... Oh, mommy's so sorry."

****

They have been in the exam room for an hour. I hate anything to do with doctors and hospitals. They always have me and my nerves on edge.

"Geez, it's taking forever." I sigh.

"Doctors like to talk a lot, Jay."

"Not helping, Mark."

"She'll be fine, bro, it's probably nothing to worry about."

Knowing Mom's history, it is really hard to believe she is okay. I know I should have some faith, but I can feel it, and I know that what they tell us when they come out of the exam room will be anything but good news.

This is different from all those times when she had her blackouts. Back then, I knew she would be okay. She scared me half to death, but I always knew she would pull through. She is forgetting things. Simple things that she has been doing every day for the past ten years. What good news can come from that?

The door opens, and Mom and Jordan step out. They have calm expressions on their faces, but their eyes betray them. Mom's eyes are red; she has been crying. Jordan's eyes were distant and full of worry and stress. Just like I thought, nothing good was coming out of that room."What happened?"

They exchanged looks, and he gave her an encouraging squeeze on her shoulder. She steps forward and takes hold of Mark's hands and mine.

"They say it's all pointing towards early-onset Alzheimer's."

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So not the kind of news to look forward to. What does this mean for Jasarie? Along with Mark's condition, how will Jared cope with all of this?

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Jared needs all the support he can get right now.